By Staff Reporter
In a move that has been welcomed across the legal fraternity, the Judicial Service Commission has introduced a formal list of documentary requirements now needed when a divorced or widowed Zimbabwean, whether male or female, seeks to register a new marriage to prove that the person is both legally free to remarry and that the laws pertaining to support minor children from the estate of a dead person have been followed.
The Commission’s list does not change any laws but is there to ensure that the law is followed .
A person who was previously in a registered marriage and wants to remarry simply requires certified copies of the divorce order or the death certificate of the deceased spouse.
For a surviving spouse to remarry after the death of their spouse, the Commission wants a declaration from the Master of the High Court that all the laws pertaining to the deceased person’s estate for the support of minor children have been followed, especially the legal requirements that ensure that dependent children continue to receive support from the deceased parent’s estate.
The law allows people to write a will leaving their assets where they wish, and when there is no will, the general law sees those assets divided equally between a surviving spouse and any children, with the addition that if a child has died but has their own children, then the dead child’s share is divided among those grandchildren.
The law also has measures that modify a straight forward distribution, at least in the immediate future, with minor children having use of the assets in the meantime.
The main one is that the children who were dependent on the estate of the dead person can continue to be supported by the assets until they are independent adults and the Master of the High Court can modify the outcome of a will to make sure that happens.
Zimbabweans marrying foreigners are required to make sure the foreigner is not married following some unpleasant problems over the conning of locals by those seeking residence permits.
The main requirement is a copy of non-marriage certificate from the country of origin confirmed by the local embassy and duly authenticated by that country.
Foreigners also need clearance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police Criminal Investigation Department and the Immigration Department of Zimbabwe, while locals who want to marry foreigners are required to obtain a certificate of non-marriage – proof that they are not married – from the Registrar General’s office.
Legal expert, Mr Vote Muza said the new regulations appear to assist minor children in interstate estates, that is where there are no wills.
“ Upon the demise of a parent, the surviving spouse would at times marry, and if such a parent died intestate again, the children of the first marriage would lose to the new husband or wife,” he said.
“The consent of the Master alone is not enough and the regulations ought to have explicitly provided that upon remarrying, no property of the first marriage shall be inherited by a spouse in a second marriage to the prejudice of the children.”
This will go beyond the use of assets and also include the final distribution.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe president, Mrs Rumbidzai Matambo said they agree with the new requirements.
“ We are obviously in support of the protection of children’s rights but this must also be balanced with the protection of other rights that individuals may have,” she said .